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The Under-23s Thread

Dutch D

Well-Known Member & FPL Champion 19/20
The decision to loan out most of the team and replace them with u18s and free agents clearly hasn’t worked in terms of league position and performances, but hopefully there’s a clearer idea on who’s going to make it here or not.

Should be quite a few sales in the summer from the youth setup.
Don't care about league position in the youth ranks, though. It only matters if the biggest talents get accelerated development, either by loaning them out or challenging them in higher age brackets or letting them develop certain skills in different positions.

As long as the teams stay up to maximize quality of opposition, of course, don't know how that works in the English youth leagues.
 

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Absolute joke. Bould should be gone in the summer, this jobs for the lads nonsense needs to end.
 

Yousif Arsenal

On Vinai's payroll & misses 4th place trophy 🏆
Trusted ⭐
Yes need really good coach for youth team. Nektiah Nelson should get sold it's clear they got no future here
 

Rasmi

Negative Nancy

Country: England
There is no point of investing in having youth come through if you can’t provide a competent coach for them. Bould is absolutely inept and I don’t think i have ever seen a manager pick a worse team than he has

2 wingers in central midfield midfield. 3 strikers with two playing wide and one of the wide men is a 6’4 target man loool
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
I turned it off, I have better **** to do.

Really disappointed in Nelson, I get the frustration but sulking just ain't it for me. He's done IMO.

Azeez looked good in that first half minding the midfield on his own. Taylor-Hart was pretty decent aswell in parts. Monlouis was OK.

I agree re Bould. Think we're not getting much out of him.
 

Country: Iceland
Feels like we are throwing all the good work we have been doing in recent years with the academy.

But maybe I'm just naive thinking we can recreate what Chelsea has to a certain extent.

We have no scouting network anymore. Mertesacker with no experience took over the job from Jonker. Our coaches at this level are just a man who has the job with out any criticism because he is a former player...
 

Geofranco

Would let Saka date his daughter

Player:Saka
Things were really looking good from that 2015-2019 era. Seems it's back to banter football for the academy. Hope Azeez, Monlouis, Hutchinson, Bandeira, Taylor-Hart and Sagoe Jnr don't get infected.
 

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
The good news is that our last 5 fixtures are against teams around us, including a double header against bottom of the league West Ham. Think the reason for this poor season (apart from Bould) is a result of having too many players in the academy in a way.

There’s about 5 u23 goalkeepers vying for a place, we have a winger playing RB instead of two highly rated England youth internationals. We have no settled midfield and the attack is a mess with Balogun/Nelson and now Nketiah sulking their way through games.

If it was up to me I’d be asking Ampadu to come back and take over the u23 setup.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
The thing with the academy is that results (good or bad) are not visible early enough to correct some of the decisions in time or keep a system that is producing good players for the first team.

Can't say if it's Mertesacker or the scouting network missing, but I'll just say this: you sell only one of the "average" talents like AMN or Willock for 15-20M (Iwobi went for 30M), it covers the cost for the whole scouting network, top youth coaches available, all the domestic youth aquisitions for every level, and I'd say that money would last for more than one season, there would probably be some money left to pay for Gunnersaurus - all from that single transfer.

Things that are happening within the first team are now starting to happen at youth levels, which brings me to the point that it's not about Bould, Arteta, or Mertesacker, the problem appears to be somewhere where decisions are being made on the club level, whatever that role is.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
U18s having another shocker as well.

Awful season all round for The Arsenal. Men’s, Women’s and youth sides all rubbish.
Very bad year, particularly coaching wise - that's where I think the bulk of the problem is. This is one of our better scholar intakes, they should be doing much better than they are.

We were missing key players today in fairness but still.

With the game yesterday, there was an extreme lack of balance and an overreliance on slightly older but much less talented players.
 

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Very bad year, particularly coaching wise - that's where I think the bulk of the problem is. This is one of our better scholar intakes, they should be doing much better than they are.

We were missing key players today in fairness but still.

With the game yesterday, there was an extreme lack of balance and an overreliance on slightly older but much less talented players.
How have Ballard, Medley, McGuinness and Clarke done on loan?

We’ve got about 8 CB’s currently inside the club at youth level so a few will have to be sold permanently you’d imagine.
 

Country: Iceland
How have Ballard, Medley, McGuinness and Clarke done on loan?

We’ve got about 8 CB’s currently inside the club at youth level so a few will have to be sold permanently you’d imagine.

Think they are all having decent loans. McGuinness has impressed and I think Ballard is already a fan favorite.

I just wish the coaching at our youth level was better. I think we have a decent level of talent there still but it's doing the kids no favor setting them so badly up every game.
 

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